TON Society Updates (11 May)
TON Society is where builders meet capital. In terms of the funnel: grants, acceleration, investments.
Grants
— Grants machine is running back up and we are happy to share that a previous community dev, Mark (TON&Co founder), has joined the TON Foundation Dev Rel team and assessing grants applications
— Apply via Questbook
Acceleration
— We have been busy structuring accelerator partnerships and will announce 22 May (via @tonsociety and @toncoin); stay tuned
— Q2 FY23 will be limited to projects that have previously submitted projects in Hack-a-TONx DoraHacks but Q3 FY23 and onward will be more open to TON projects in general (for operational reasons)
— Projects with single digital valuations, TGE in its roadmap, and adding to ecosystem gap areas will be prioritized (for raise in the range of $50K ~ $250K)
Investments
— Overall, VC interest is much more selective due to market conditions, but Toncoin.fund is restructuring leadership and will continue to look for investment opportunities best fit for TON ecosystem
Additionally, TON Society will soon incorporate and have its own ecosystem fund (type) capital to inject into the most promising projects going through the funnel (at whichever stage they enter).
TON NFT Marketplaces
Today, we will be highlighting some of the most notable NFT marketplaces on The Open Network (TON).
Although there has recently been a global decline in the popularity of NFTs, the TON NFT sector is still expanding, and we are witnessing the emergence of new and innovative platforms that showcase TON's limitless possibilities.
▪️ Getgems
Getgems is one of the premier NFT marketplaces on TON and recently celebrated its first anniversary. The platform offers a huge selection of NFTs and a wide range of features, including the ability to issue your own tokens, hold auctions, and explore different TON collections. Getgems has also introduced a Telegram bot, @GetgemsNftBot, which gives Telegram users easy access to the platform.
▪️ Disintar
Disintar was one of the first NFT marketplaces to launch on the main network and provides a broad selection of NFTs for users to explore. The platform also exclusively offers "My Room," a unique digital room interface that allows users to store their NFTs.
You can find the Disintar Telegram bot here: @disintar_bot
▪️ TON Diamonds
TON Diamonds is a fine art NFT platform that showcases the works of renowned digital artists such as Pokras Lampas, Ellen Scheidlin, Brickspacer, and others. In addition to its online presence, the platform often participates in offline NFT events and supports various art exhibitions around the world.
▪️ Playmuse
Playmuse is a unique music and video NFT marketplace on TON. The platform offers artists the opportunity to release their content through Playmuse Records, have their work distributed across 200+ streaming services and receive royalties in Toncoin. Playmuse is rapidly expanding and plans to attract approximately 2,000 artists in the coming months.
▪️ Tonex
Tonex, a social network built on TON Blockchain, has recently launched its own NFT marketplace. The platform offers a user-friendly interface for browsing collections, purchasing NFTs, and mining tokens.
Ellen Sheidlin’s promo-video for her new NFT project on TON Diamonds is featured on Times Square in New York
The promotional video for Ellen Sheidlin's NFT project on TON Diamonds is now being displayed on one of the main billboards in Times Square, located in the heart of New York City. The main square of the metropolis is visited by hundreds of thousands of people every day, and huge advertising boards have long been an integral part of the city life.
The video showcases Ellen Sheidlin's new NFT project "Soaring through Barriers" featuring magical birds as if ready to fly our of the screen, and finishes with an announcement for the upcoming Focus Art Fair exhibition. The event will take place from May 18th to May 21st at Chelsea Industrial, located 10 minutes from the Empire State Building. As shown in the video, the TON Diamonds marketplace will exhibit Ellen's work and other world-renowned artists in booth A8.
This is another big step for the TON Diamonds marketplace and for The Open Network blockchain! We look forward to seeing you at the exhibition.
TON Community Weekly Digest
Here’s a roundup of the most exciting news from the past seven days in The Open Network (TON) Ecosystem.
Network Growth:
▪️ The number of registered TON accounts increased from 2,571,929 to 2,598,092 (+1%) between May 1 and May 7, 2023.
Ecosystem News:
▪️ Trust Wallet, one of the most popular crypto wallets in the world, now supports Toncoin. Read more.
▪️ Mooli, a cryptocurrency portfolio tracker, added support for TON. Read more.
▪️ TON Foundation has started a new security collaboration with Chainalysis, a leading Web3 analysis company. Read more.
▪️ Changelly, a non-custodial crypto exchange service, has now listed Toncoin. Read more.
▪️ TON Blog published an article titled "The story of Tact language: from idea to release" that describes the foundation of Tact programming language. Read more.
▪️ First Stage Labs published a Medium article examining the TON NFT landscape. Read more.
▪️ American artist Sarah McDaniel released a short film about her TON NFT project. Read more.
Subscribe and be the first to receive updates from The Open Network (TON) Ecosystem.
Changelly lists Toncoin (TON) and integrates with Tonkeeper
Changelly, which recently listed Toncoin (TON), is a non-custodial platform of services and products that make interacting with cryptocurrencies seamless. It offers over 500 cryptocurrencies and sees 2 million monthly visitors.
Moreover, Changelly is preparing to integrate with the TON-based Tonkeeper wallet.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Sarah McDaniel, American artist, has released a mini-movie about the creation process of her NFT project on TON Blockchain.
Sarah McDaniel, who goes under the name Yonk in the artworld, works with 2D, stop motion, and live action, married with CGI to tell abstract stories of the various subjects she explores in neuroscience. At the beginning of her career, she gained popularity as a model thanks to her multicolored eyes. She also appeared in music videos of prominent musicians such as Mark Ronson and G-Eazy, as well as served as the cover girl for Playboy magazine in 2016.
For a year Sarah has been devoting lots of time and effort to studying neurobiology and specifically to how human brains change in different emotional states. The Inner Landscapes project blends scientific data gathered from the MRI scans with computer graphics. As a result, Yonk created artworks that demonstrate peculiarities of the human brain during different activities, thus attracting more attention to this topic.
The mini-movie, shot in Los Angeles, shows the creation process of the Inner Landscapes. The film director is Ian Bokhanovich who earlier produced video clips for famous rappers Eldzhey and Morgenshtern. The movie itself is quite short and truly artistic, and it’ll be presented at the Focus Art Fair in New York.
Yonk also published the video on her Instagram, announcing the collaboration with TON Diamonds, thanked the team for the movie production and reminded her followers about the upcoming exhibition in New York.
Enjoy it! And look out for more news on Sarah’s artworks and the new artists that will soon appear on our marketplace.
TON Foundation enlists Chainalysis Crypto Incident Response Service.
TON Foundation has entered into a new collaboration with Chainalysis, a leading blockchain analysis company that specializes in cryptocurrency investigative and compliance solutions. The Chainalysis Crypto Incident Response program is a rapid response retainer service that works with blockchain networks to recover lost funds in the event of a network security breach.
Chainalysis provides world-class security for its client networks but also acts as an investigator and a broker between users and law enforcement. When an incident such as a hack, ransomware attack, code exploit, or flash loan attack occurs, Chainalysis is available 24/7 to assign a dedicated team to protect users.
This latest partnership with Chainalysis demonstrates TON Foundation’s commitment to protecting the community from malicious actors and securing the integrity of the network. You can read more about the Chainalysis service here.
Mooli now supports Toncoin (TON) on its crypto asset tracking platform
Mooli, a customizable crypto asset tracker, has added Toncoin (TON) to its dashboard. The platform offers daily profit and loss monitoring, saved filters, as well as the ability to share custom dashboards with friends.
Mooli offers a safe and user-friendly way to monitor crypto assets by supporting both MetaMask and WalletConnect. The platform is also completely anonymous and does not obtain access to a user's wallet, private keys or seed phrase. You can check out Mooli here.
Swap, farm, earn with lower fees and higher rewards on DeDust’s version 2.0
DeDust.io, a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) on TON, has launched its version 2.0, which includes a host of new features and improvements. You can now swap tokens with lower gas fees and earn $SCALE by providing liquidity for farming pools.
The new DeDust.io also features an updated interface and liquidity deposit UX that has massively improved performance and usability. Check out the DeDust Telegram channel for more info.
TON Play releases Unity SDK and a new payment management system for games
TON Play, a TON-based GameFi launchpad, has introduced new payment options including pay-in, mass payout, and on-demand payout methods which can be seamlessly integrated with any product.
The service allows you to:
▪️Receive Toncoin payments from Telegram users.
▪️Incorporate mass Toncoin payouts in projects with cash prizes.
▪️Automate payouts upon user request.
Besides this, TON Play has streamlined the asset and in-game marketplace management process for projects using TON Blockchain and the Telegram WebApp thanks to their new SDK solution.
Developers can direct any inquiries they have to TON Play's support team via @tonplay_devs or by emailing gamedevs@tonplay.io.
Flex supports new Token Bridge
On April 17, 2023, after a long testing period, the TON Factory team launched a public and fully functional version of the Flex decentralized exchange (DEX).
Users are now able to:
▪️Transfer stablecoins including Tether tokens (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and Dai (DAI) to TON via the official bridge.
▪️Swap via routes (so-called "double swaps"). This allows users to exchange digital tokens from several links along complex paths.
▪️Access one of the lowest fees among all DEX's on TON.
▪️List any digital token without additional fees.
▪️Use any wallet working with TON Connect 2.0 (Tonkeeper, OpenMask, MyTonWallet, Tonhub, etc).
Users also have the opportunity to place funds in liquidity pools.
For developers and third-party services, an API is available, which allows users to interact with Flex even without knowledge of low-level TON structures.
Welcome to the new TON-based DEX.
Fanton secures $300,000 in pre-seed funding
Fanton, a leading play-to-earn (P2E), NFT-based fantasy football game on The Open Network (TON), has raised $300,000 from top-tier investors. Fanton is now valued at $5M. To date, over 50,000 users have played Fanton and this number is growing every day. This substantial financial support, combined with the company's devoted user base, is paving the way for Fanton to obtain unicorn status, marking a major milestone for TON Ecosystem's SocialFi sphere.
Fanton allows you to build your own virtual football team using NFT cards. Each card represents a real player who performs in real matches. You can earn points based on your players’ actions in the real world, and win Toncoin or more NFT cards.
Fanton's founder and COO, Vadim Sterlin, highlighted the company's revenue generation, consistent 20% weekly growth and innovative use of TON technology as evidence of the company's huge potential. Fanton is building up a substantial community on Telegram. Now, with the support of top-tier investors such as First Stage Labs, Fanton is on its way to revolutionize TON Ecosystem's P2E landscape.
A new Telegram update allows developers to assign custom usernames to bots using Fragment
Telegram has introduced a new feature that enables developers to assign any username purchased on Fragment to their bots without having to follow the usual bot suffix rule. Previously, every new bot created in Telegram had to end with the special bot suffix, which limited developer creativity and branding possibilities.
Fragment is a decentralized marketplace, operating on TON Blockchain, for buying and selling Telegram usernames. Now, in exchange for 5,000 Toncoin, developers can use any username for their bot which they have purchased on Fragment.
Onramp now supports Toncoin (TON) purchases via UPI/IMPS transfers
Onramp, the leading service for converting fiat-to-crypto in India, has integrated support for TON Blockchain. You can now instantly buy Toncoin (TON), as well as more than 200 other cryptocurrencies, with the Indian Rupee (INR) using Onramp. To get started, visit the Onramp website and turn INR into TON today!
First Stage Labs has released new research on the latest developments in decentralized finance (DeFi) on The Open Network (TON) in Q1, 2023
TON has seen a massive proliferation of DeFi projects and an increase in TVL during Q1, 2023. TON is now laying the groundwork to become one of the leading platforms for DeFi innovation and adoption. In this new Medium post, FSL explores current and future DeFi projects on TON, comparing TON’s performance with other blockchains while identifying the drivers of TON’s TVL growth.
Please check out FSL's latest post and subscribe to the Medium channel for more insights into TON Ecosystem.
A community-created video on TON
The official TON Twitter account posted a spectacular animation by graphic designer Rachmanova Dilnoza.
Watch and enjoy!
TON Foundation collaborates with BIT Crypto Exchange
TON Foundation is collaborating with BIT Crypto Exchange with the platform now accepting Toncoin (TON) for trading fee payments while also offering discounts for those who pay in TON.
A deep dive into TON Storage and decentralized file storage
Beincrypto, a leading cryptocurrency news portal, has published a technical article, The Economics of Decentralized Storage Protocols, authored by Anastasia Zhiltsova and Kirill Malev. The article explores the business models of several decentralized storage protocols and how they generate revenue. Notably, the authors look at Nonstorage and Tondrive.io, which are innovative TON-based data storage protocols that are in the early stages of development and poised to make a significant impact on the digital token economy.
We heartily recommend this article to all enthusiasts of the nascent distributed file storage industry.
The world-class security of the TON–Ethereum bridge
Last month, The Open Network (TON) Blockchain welcomed its first-ever cross-chain bridge to transfer ERC-20 tokens between Ethereum and TON.
Today, we want to tell you about the service’s security.
The bridge’s smart contracts have undergone rigorous auditing on multiple occasions.
Before the service launched, TON Foundation had hosted a smart contract hackathon — whose total prize fund was $50,000 — hoping to find vulnerabilities. In the end, no vulnerabilities were discovered.
Moreover, three industry-leading auditing companies — CertiK, Quantstamp, and Hexens — reviewed the smart contracts and found no critical bugs or vulnerabilities.
Currently, the bridge can handle wBTC, USDT, USDC, and DAI transfers; however, more cryptocurrencies will be added in the near future.
You can find more information in this post, but before using the bridge, we recommend reading this guide.
First Stage Labs takes deep dive into NFT landscape on TON
In this Medium article, First Stage Labs looks at the evolving NFT space and how TON Ecosystem is furthering innovation. First Stage Labs is a venture builder & VC firm operating in TON Ecosystem and it regularly publishes Web3 research articles on topics pertinent to TON. If you are interested in learning more about the potential of TON NFTs, don't miss this piece where FSL considers the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in the NFT landscape.
Trust Wallet now supports Toncoin (TON)
Trust Wallet, a self-custodial and multi-chain crypto wallet with more than 60 million downloads, has added Toncoin (TON) to its supported assets. The wallet now allows users to hold, receive and send TON.
Anthony Tsivarev, Director of Developer Relations at TON Foundation, described Trust Wallet as one of the "pillars of the digital token space" and said the addition of TON to the self-custodial and multi-chain crypto wallet marked a significant milestone in TON's journey to mass adoption.
Trust Wallet is truly one of the world's leading Web3 wallets and it cannot be understated what a major breakthrough this is for TON. This integration will significantly increase the visibility of the native cryptocurrency of our blockchain and it is an unequivocal sign that TON is gaining high-profile recognition in the digital token space.
The story of Tact language: from idea to release
Today, we invite you to check out the latest blog post published on TON Blog about the history of the Tact programming language, which was made to supplement FunC.
In this latest post, you'll find out why Tact was needed, what problems it solves and who was involved in its creation. The blog post is available here.
TON Community Weekly Digest
Here’s a roundup of the most exciting news from the past seven days in The Open Network (TON) ecosystem.
Network Growth:
▪️ The number of new accounts created on TON grew from 2,532,874 to 2,567,158 (+1.3%) between April 24 and 30.
Ecosystem News:
▪️ Tonstarter launched two new Community Incentive programs, whereby users can earn bonus points for completing simple tasks. Read more.
▪️ NFT marketplace Getgems celebrated its first birthday on April 27. Congratulations to everyone at Getgems!🥳 Read more.
▪️ Fanton, a P2E project based on TON, raised $300,000 in a pre-Seed funding round. Read more.
▪️ CPA network ePN is expanding its presence in the ecosystem and invites people to collaborate with TON-based projects. Read more.
▪️ Flex, a new DEX based on TON that supports the new Token Bridge, launched. Read more.
▪️ GameFi launchpad TON Play released its Unity SDK and a payments processor for games. Read more.
▪️ The ton-company">TON & Company YouTube channel published an interview with the CEO of StickerFace, Oleg Illarionov. View the interview here.
▪️ TON-based decentralized exchange DeDust unveiled its latest 2.0 version. Read more.
Subscribe and be the first to receive updates from The Open Network (TON) ecosystem.
TON&Co have released a new interview with StickerFace CEO Oleg Illarionov
In their latest video, ton-company">TON&Co sit down with the creative muse and CEO of StickerFace. This is a Web3 solution that allows users to create their own personalized, TON-based NFT avatars.
Oleg has already made huge contributions to the development of TON Blockchain. In particular, thanks to his extensive experience developing mobile apps, he was integral to the creation of the TON API.
Please head over to the TON&Co YouTube channel to find out more about the world of StickerFace, NFT, Telegram, and TON!
New participants join Tonstarter's Community Incentives program
In January this year, Tonstarter launched the Community Incentives program, which has already distributed over $500,000 of digital tokens and NFTs to TON Ecosystem projects.
The program invites users to complete simple tasks such as playing a game, making a transaction, subscribing to a channel or attending an AMA session. As a reward, users obtain points that can be exchanged for project tokens and NFTs.
Tonstarter has now launched two new Community Incentive programs simultaneously and all users can participate in them immediately. One program is for Punk City and another is for STON.fi DEX.
A waitlist has also been opened for the DeDust.io bounty program that starts at 12:00 UTC on May 3, 2023.
More details can be found in the official Tonstarter channel.
ePN beefs up TON Ecosystem presence
The ePN CPA network, which has more than 700,000 webmasters, joined The Open Network (TON) in 2021 and is expanding its activities in TON Ecosystem.
Crypto product creators can now connect to the ePN network who will help to promote their projects.
The ePN platform is always on the lookout for new partnerships. You can find out more details about collaboration by contacting @epncrypto.
How does it work?
Any TON-based service can contact the ePN network and specify a target goal (for example, increasing project registrations or payments). ePN then connects with bloggers or website/channel owners who will advertise the TON-based project on their own platform and earn an income for each reader who registers through their referral link.
The ePN platform aims to contribute to the mass adoption of cryptocurrency and bring together numerous digital token projects on a single platform.
Founded in 2013, ePN has generated over $3 billion in advertising sales and currently serves over 200 million users, creating more than 3 million leads per month.
We fully support ePN's continued expansion and remain convinced that it will significantly increase the popularity of TON products.
TON Community Weekly Digest
Here’s a roundup of the most exciting news from the past seven days in The Open Network (TON) Ecosystem.
Network Growth:
▪️ The number of registered TON accounts increased from 2,502,589 to 2,528,599 (+1%) between April 17 and April 23, 2023.
Ecosystem News:
▪️ TON Foundation has published its Q1 2023 results. Read more.
▪️The First Stage Labs team has released a new study on the TON decentralized finance (DeFi) sector in Q1, 2023. Read more.
▪️ The ton.org official website has received a huge update and now includes a completely new design as well as Chinese and Portuguese language support. Read more.
▪️ The leading fiat-to-cryptocurrency conversion service in India, Onramp, now supports Toncoin (TON). Read more.
▪️ TON took part in the Hong Kong Web3 Festival. Read more.
▪️ Telegram now allows users to bind collection names purchased on Fragment to bots. Read more.
Subscribe and be the first to receive updates from The Open Network (TON) Ecosystem.
The Open Network (TON) takes part in the Hong Kong Web3 Festival
TON Foundation's Asia-based team and ecosystem projects actively participated in the Hong Kong Web3 Festival. During the festival, the team got involved in many events and organized numerous high-level meetings with potential partners.
One of the big highlights of the festival was a speech by TON Foundation’s Business Development Head in China. He used the event to discuss the latest developments in the ecosystem and conduct an on-site airdrop demonstration using @wallet.
Besides this, an innovative decentralized lending protocol based on TON called TONLend was also showcased. It works by leveraging TON Blockchain’s high-performance and low-gas technology to provide competitive interest rates.
The ton.org website has received a major new update and now includes Portuguese language support
Ton.org, the official website of The Open Network (TON), has recently been updated to provide the community with a more modern interface that enhances the overall user experience. Ton.org is the main source of information and resources for the TON community. The website provides an overview of the our ecosystem's vision, different spheres, roadmap, and governance.
The new ton.org site also now features a Portuguese language option. We believe that language should not be a barrier to access the benefits of TON, and we are committed to providing a multilingual platform that caters to the needs and preferences of our diverse and global community.
❓ What are stablecoins and how to get them on TON?
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency whose value is tied to the value of a specific asset — the US dollar, for example. Stablecoins in the TON network are Jettons, which we have covered in depth in our previous post.
Stablecoins can be a reliable tool for storing assets and protecting them from volatile token price fluctuations.
Why are stablecoins necessary for the development of a blockchain?
Stablecoins allow you to easily manage your assets. Unlike traditional financial instruments, you can conduct transactions and payments quickly and easily, avoiding multiple hurdles. This advantage is especially valuable for international transfers, where stable Jettons can substantially speed up the process while reducing fees and currency exchange costs.
The DeFi market on TON is still in its early stages. We hope that in the future there will be a number of new services that actively employ stablecoins: DEXs for futures trading, lending protocols, smart contract casinos, and others.
🎁 How to get stablecoins on TON?
Although The Open Network does not yet have its own stablecoin, it is still possible to purchase stable currencies. The RSquad bridge will help you with this.
Today, TON Foundation has finally released a bridge to transfer tokens from the Ethereum network to the TON network and vice versa. The current TON Bridge will be upgraded with new functionality.
The TON Trustless Bridge is planned to go live in the third quarter. It is a special bridge with unique features, whose security is guaranteed by the blockchain itself. Once it’s released, users will be able to create Jettons on other networks.
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